


End of the World

by HomuraBakura



Series: Arc V Rarepair Week 2018 [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V
Genre: Beaches, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-05 09:55:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15168146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomuraBakura/pseuds/HomuraBakura
Summary: Yuya is always dragging the other three boys on outings, and today, it's the beach.  But Yuuri seems a little pricklier than usual today, and Yuto is unfortunately nice enough to try and figure out why.





	End of the World

**Author's Note:**

> For Arc V Rarepair Week 2018, Prompt 3: Ocean

“Man, the weather’s awesome!!  Come on guys, hurry, we need to get a spot before all the good set up places are taken!”

Yuya charged on ahead, an umbrella under one arm, a pool floatie under another, and the picnic basket swinging from one hand.  Yugo bolted after him with a whoop, carrying a giant shark floatie in front of him, so big that he couldn’t see where he was going, and immediately tripped over a rock and fell forward, bouncing off the ground once because of the floatie.

Yuuri snorted, and when Yuto glanced at him, he was making his usual snide grin as he watched Yugo try to struggle up to his feet again.

“Saving more blackmail material?” Yuto asked dryly.

“I would have been filming if I wanted that,” Yuuri said.  “No, that’s just a lovely memory to play back later when I need a laugh.”

Yuto rolled his eyes.  He sort of understood  _ why _ Yuya had invited all three of them to come with him to the beach, where they’d be meeting up with the girls and a few others who could make it.  But he didn’t understand why Yuuri kept accepting all of Yuya’s invitations. He never participated in anything, he’d just sit on the side and sneer and make fun of everyone.

Whatever.  It wasn’t Yuto’s problem.  He just wanted to get into that water; it was  _ hot _ .

He winced at the hot sand even through his sandals, and glanced back out of a morbid curiosity to see how Yuuri was handling it— dumb guy hadn’t even changed out of his usual ridiculous purple and red ensemble, so he must be baking.

He was surprised to see that Yuuri hadn’t even stepped off of the wooden stairs to the beach yet.  Instead, his eyes were trained on the ocean, and there was...a very peculiar look on his face. Yuto was never sure how to read Yuuri, and often didn’t want to even try.  He was a creep, and had caused more than his fair share of destruction. Even their time they had spent fused together hadn’t really softened his opinion all that much: Yuuri’s mind was full of messed up shit, and he rarely let anyone dig too deep.

But there was something...pensive about the look on Yuuri’s face, the way his teeth dug lightly into his bottom lip.  Like he was almost nervous.

Yuto shouldn’t have cared.  But, like Shun had often told him, he had too much of a bleeding heart for his own good most of the time.

“You okay?” he said.

Yuuri actually flinched, eyes widening as he flipped his gaze to Yuto.  The clear reaction was “what the fuck, you weren’t supposed to be looking at me.”

“I’m  _ fine _ ,” Yuuri said, pressing down the wrinkles of his shirt.

“You’re looking a little queasy.  You should have worn something cooler.”

“It’s not the heat that bothers me,” Yuuri said with extra venom, even for him.

Yuto folded his arms and raised an eyebrow.

“You just admitted that something was bothering you,” he pointed out.

Yuuri’s cheeks actually flushed.

“It is none of your concern,” Yuuri said between his teeth.

He stepped off of the beach and onto the sand, presumably to stalk off.  However, the sand was more slippery than he seemed to have expected, because he immediately lost his balance.  His mouth popped into a startled “o” as his body fwooshed out from underneath him.

Lucky for him, Yuto was right next to him, and had very quick reflexes.  He caught Yuuri under the back before he could go down and hit his head on the stairs. 

“Hey, careful,” Yuto said.  “You’ll make trouble for Yuya if you break your head open.”

“I know that!” Yuuri snapped.

He hurriedly threw himself out of Yuto’s grip, almost neurotically smoothing his clothes out over and over long after the wrinkles were smoothed out.  Yuto hesitated. Clearly, something was up, but Yuuri didn’t want to talk about it. And really, did he care that much to press?

He saw Yuuri glance up again, though, eyes on the ocean once more, and saw the flush from before drain out of him again.

“Yuuri,” Yuto said, the words coming out before he could stop them.  “Are you...afraid of the ocean?”

Yuuri’s eyes bulged.

“That’s utter nonsense,” he scoffed.  “What on— how could you— maybe  _ you’re _ the one who’s afraid of the ocean!”

Bingo.  Yuto almost laughed.  It was something so completely innocuous that he could hardly believe it.

“I mean, I used to be,” he said.  “I thought the sharks were gonna eat me once.  It’s totally normal to not like the ocean, you know.”

Yuuri’s lips actually curled.

“Oh my, the scary sharks, yes, of course that’s what you were afraid of,” Yuuri said.

Yuto rolled his eyes.

“Look, I’m just trying to be nice, you know,” he said.  “It’s okay if you’re nervous. You don’t have to go into the ocean.”

“This isn’t the goddamn ocean that scares me, Yuto!”

The words seemed to rip out of Yuuri all at once, as though they’d escaped on their own.  He flushed, immediately, and the brief mirth Yuto had felt faded quickly. He waited, quietly, as Yuuri inhaled and exhaled, one long breath, two, three.

“Here’s a fun game,” he said through grit teeth, as though it were painful to speak.  “Let’s put all of the little children with nowhere else to go on an island with no way off.  Too small to reach the handles of a boat. Too guarded to approach the harbor without permission.  Nothing but water, as far as the eye can see. There’s no end. There’s no way out. The ocean means the end of the world, however tiny your world might be.”

Yuto’s lips parted.  Oh...he understood, now.  He felt bad for almost laughing, before.  For a moment, they stood in silence for a long, long moment.

“Did you know,” Yuto said then.  “That if you put your hand into the ocean, you’re touching the entire world at once?”

Yuuri didn’t look up, but something in him seemed to give out with a soft surprise.

“The ocean goes everywhere.  Into lakes and rivers and streams, into the clouds where the rain falls over the rest of the world.  If you touch the ocean...you’re at the beginning of the entire world.”

Yuuri didn’t look up from the sand.

Then he snorted.

“You’re such an awful romantic,” he said with a wave of his hand.

But, Yuto thought, as he turned away and stalked off towards Yuya and the others.  He looked...just a little more relaxed at that.


End file.
